Concrete wall form apparatus



C. F. ALLRED CONCRETE WALL FORM APPARATUS Dec. 22, 1970 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 11, 1968 INVENTOR. 6561/ K Aflk'd 21L fl frys. gm:

Dec. 22, 1970 c, ALLRED 3,548,457

CONCRETE WALL FORM APPARATUS Filed Sept. 11; 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Dec. 22., 1970 c. F. ALLRED 3,543,467

CONCRETE WALL FORM APPARATUS Filed Sept. 11, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VENTOR.

CECI/ F: filmed 3,548,467 CONCRETE WALL FORM APPARATUS Cecil F. Allred, 1307 Oak St., Othello, Wash. 99344 Filed Sept. 11, 1968, Ser. N0.'759,170 Int. Cl. B28b 7/02; E04g 11/00 US. Cl. 25-131 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A concrete wall form apparatus is described for forming an elongated concrete wall between two forms made of plywood sheets. Two sections of an elongated frame are positioned on opposite sides of the wall, supporting tracks for carrying a carriage that is movable along the length of the wall. Backup rollers are mounted-"on the carriage for engaging the outside surfaces of the forms to prevent the forms form buckling or bulging when the concrete is poured and'vibrated between the forms. Motors are connected to the rollers to move the carriage along the tracks. The frame is collapsible and the rollers may be easily removed from the carriage to enable the'apparatus to be transported and stored in a compact bundle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to concrete forms and more particularly to concrete will forms for forming elongated concrete walls.

Frequently the cost of concrete forms and the time required to assemble the forms greatly exceeds the cost of the cement itself and the pouring thereof. The forms are quite bulky and ditficult to handle and require a large number of man hours to assemble and disassembly.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide a concrete wall form apparatus that may be readily and easily assembled and disassembled in a short period of time.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a concrete form apparatus that may be utilized inexpensively over and over again.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a concrete form apparatus that may be easily and inexpensively manufactured and transported compactly to various construction sites.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a movable backup system for supporting plywood sheet forms.

A further object of this invention is to provide a concrete wall form apparatus that may be utilized in the formation of cylindrical or curved wall sections.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a concrete wall form apparatus that may be utilized to progressively form a concrete wall of more than one story high.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon the reading of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a concrete wall form apparatus embodying the principles of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of a section of the concrete Wall form apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical cross sectional view of an upper section of the concrete form apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical cross sectional view of a lower section of the concrete form apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a detail plan view of a cross member of the concrete form apparatus illustrating the ease of assembly on the apparatus;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary end view of the cross member illustrated in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side view of the cross member illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary cross sectional view showing braces for holding a concrete wall upright after the concrete is poured and vibrated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A concrete wall form appaartus, generally designated by the arrow 10, is illustrated in FIG. 1 for forming a concrete wall 11 on a footing 12. The concrete wall form apparatus includes upright plywood sheet forms 13 and 14 that define the sides of the concrete wall. Each of the plywood sheet forms contains a plurality of plywood sheets that are positioned in two overlapping plywood layers.

The concrete wall 11 is formed along a predetermined path that is generally defined by the footing. The predetermined path may be either straight or curved, depending upon the requirements of the wall.

The concrete wall form apparatus 10 includes a frame 16 having two frame sections 17 and 19 positioned on opposite sides of the concrete wall. Tie bolts 20, illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4, extend through the footing 12 to interconnect the base of the frame sections 17 and 18. The tie bolts 20 are threaded on their ends to enable the distance between the plywood sheet forms 13 and 14 to be adjusted to form walls of various thicknesses.

Each of the frame sections 17 and 18 are elongated and contain a plurality of upright triangular-shaped supports 21, each having an upright leg 22, a horizontal leg 23 and a hypotenuse leg 24 that are interconnected by angle brackets 29. Each of the legs 22, 23 and 24 may be separated from the angle brackets 29 so that when the frame 16 is disassembled it will form a compact package that may be easily transported from one site to another. The length of leg 29 may be adjusted by a bolt 29a to position the upright leg vertical irrespective of the contour of the ground.

The frame sections 17 and 18 have parallel base channel members 25 and 26 respectively that are horizontally mounted on the tie bolts 20 parallel with the predetermined path of the cement wall. The channel members 25 and 26 may be spaced at different distances from each other by tightening or loosening the tie bolts 20.

Each of the base channel members 25 and 26 have a U-shaped channel element 27 (FIG. 4) for receiving the bottom ends of the plywood sheet forms and a U-shaped channel element 28 outside the channel element 27 that forms a guide surface or track 30 along one side thereof. Each of the base channel members 25 and 26 also have a U-shaped channel element 32 that faces outwardly above the channel elements 27 and 28 for receiving an elongated stationary chain 33 therein mounted parallel with the predetermined path of the cement wall.

An elongated horizontal square tube 35 (FIGS. 1 and 3) is mounted on the upper portion of each of the frame sections 17 and 18 parallel with the predetermined path. One surface of each of the square tubes defines an upper guide surface or track 36.

Parallel upper channel members 37 and 38 are mounted on the upper end of the plywood sheet forms 13 and 14 respectively as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Each of the upper channel members 37 and 38 has a U-shaped channel element 40 facing down for receiving the upper ends of the plywood sheet forms. Each of the upper channel members 37, 38 has an upward facing channel element or track 41 immediately above the channel element 40. A channel element 42 is formed on the side of each of the upper channel members 37 and 38 for receiving a stationary chain 43 therein mounted parallel with the predetermined path. A rack-like track may be utilized instead of the stationary chain 43 to provide a toothed track means.

A movable backup device mounted on the frame sections 17 and 18 is supported and guided by the tracks 41 and the guide surfaces and 36 for moving along the outside surfaces of the plywood sheet forms 13 and 14 to rigidly support the forms when the concrete is being poured and vibrated between the forms. The movable backup device may be moved along the plywood sheet forms as the concrete wall is progressively formed. Such a backup device may include a varied number of carriages 46. For purposes of illustration three carriages 46a, 46b and 46c are shown. Each of the carriages includes a cross member 49 that extends over the concrete wall and the plywood sheet forms 13 and 14. The cross member 49 has caster wheels 50 (FIGS. 3 and 7) that extend downwardly therefrom and ride in the tracks 41 of the upper channel members 37 and 38.

Each of the cross members 49 has elongated tube sections 51 and 52 with rectangular cross sections. An intermediate tube 53 (FIG. 5) also having a rectangular cross section is slidably mounted in the inner ends of the sections 51 and 52 to enable the length of the cross member to be adjusted to vary the width of the concrete wall as desired. The sections 51 and 52 have slotted ends or brackets 54 and 55 respectively for slidably receiving square bearing blocks 56 and 57 respectively (FIGS. 5 and 6). Each of the bearing blocks 56 and 57 supports a bearing 58 on a rotatable roller shaft 60 that extends downwardly along the side of the plywood sheet forms. A roller 61 is mounted on the roller shaft 60 for engaging the outside surfaces of the plywood sheet forms to rigidly support the forms as the concrete is being poured and vibrated.

Roller bearings 62 and 63 are mounted on the respective ends of the roller shaft 60 for rolling along and bearing against the guide surfaces 36 and 30 to support the roller in a substantially vertical position. Upper and lower chain sprockets 64 and 65 are securely mounted on the roller shaft 60 in engaging with the elongated stationary chains 33 and 43 respectively so that when the roller shaft 60 and the roller 61 are rotated the roller shaft 60 will maintain its vertical orientation.

A drive means is operatively connected to each of the rollers for moving the carriages along the plywood sheet forms for supporting the forms as the concrete wall is being formed. The drive means includes a drive sprocket 68 (FIGS. 2 and 3) afiixed to each of the roller shafts 60. A separate hydraulic motor 70 is mounted on the cross) members 49 adjacent each of the rollers 61. A chain 71 interconnects the drive sprocket 68 with the hydraulic motor. As shown in the drawings, each roller 61 is driven by a separate hydraulic motor 70 so that the speed of movement may be varied if a curved or cylindrical wall section is being formed.

To facilitate the easy and ready assembly of the concrete wall form apparatus, the rollers 61 are releasably supported on the carriages through interlocking mechanism 73 mounted on the ends 54 and 55 of the carriage cross member 49. The locking mechanism includes a dog 74 mounted on each side of the ends and extending into the interior of the ends for engaging a notch 75 (FIG. 5) formed on both sides of the bearing blocks 56. The dogs 74 are spring loaded so that when a roller 61 is mounted on the carriage the bearing blocks 56, 57 will slide into the ends 54, 55 of the cross members respectively with the dogs locking the bearing blocks securely to the carriage. When it is desired to disassemble the apparatus the spring biased dogs are moved outwardly to release the bearing blocks from the ends 54, 55 of the cross member.

If desired cross braces 81 and 82 (FIG. 8) may be positioned between the frame sections 17 and 18 and the forms 13 and 14 to provide added support after the rollers are moved to a different wall section. The brace 81 extends over the tubes 35 to prevent the upper ends of the frame from moving away from each other. The brace 82 extends between opposing legs 22 of the frame section with tabs 83 that engage the outside of the forms 13 and 14 to hold the forms upright and to prevent the forms from expanding as the concrete is curing.

As additional support, side braces 85 may be positioned against the side of the forms as shown in FIG. 1. The side braces 85 have one end 86 that fits into the outside angle bracket 29 with the other end 87 engaging the side of the forms preferably where the seams meet. Scaffolding supports 88 are fixed to the brace 85 to support planks to enable the operator to work along the top of the wall.

Such an apparatus may be very effectively utilized in forming concrete walls with insulation 88 and sheet rock 90 (FIG. 4) already in place as the concrete is being poured. The insulation 88 may be of plastic foam as shown in FIG. 4.

From the above description one can readily appreciate the simplicity of the concrete wall form apparatus and ease with which it can be assembled and disassembled in a short period of time. The rollers 61 are moved along the outside surfaces of the plywood sheet forms 13, 14 as each section of the wall is poured and vibrated.

It should be understood that the above described embodiment is simply illustrative of the principles of this invention and numerous modifications may be made without deviating from the scope of this invention. Therefore, only the following claims are intended to define this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A. concrete wall form apparatus for supporting sheet forms to prevent buckling or bulging of the forms while cement is being poured and vibrated thereagainst in the progressive formation of an elongated concrete wall along a predetermined path, said apparatus comprising:

(a) two or more upright elongated backup rollers;

(b) elongated track means positioned parallel to the predetermined path for supporting the backup rollers against the outside surfaces of the sheet forms; and

(c) drive means operably connected to the backup rollers for moving the rollers along the track means as the concrete wall is being progressively formed.

2. A concrete wall form apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the drive means includes:

(a) horizontal stationary chains positioned parallel with the predetermined path;

(b) chain sprockets fixed on the rollers in engagement with the chains; and

(c) motor means operatively connected to the rollers to rotate the rollers to move the rollers along the track means.

3. A concrete wall form apparatus as defined in claim 1 further comprising a frame having two sections that are positioned on opposite sides of the predetermined path and wherein the track means includes an upper guide surface and a lower guide surface mounted on each section of the frame for preventing the lateral movement of the rollers as the rollers are moved along the predetermined path.

4. A concrete wall form apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the track means includes tracks mounted along the upper ends of the upright sheet forms parallel with the predetermined path for vertically supporting backup rollers.

5.. A concrete wall form apparatus as defined in claim 1 further comprising a carriage mounted on the track means releasably supporting the backup rollers on opposite sides of the predetermined path.

6. A concrete wall form apparatus as defined in claim wherein the releasable support of the rollers includes a bearing mounted on the rollers, a bearing block affixed to the bearing, a bearing block bracket formed on the carriage for? slidably receiving the bearing block, and a releasable lock mechanism for securingthe bearing block to the bracket to hold the roller on the 'carriageduring operation and for permitting the removal of the rollers from the carriage when the apparatus is not in operation.

7. A concrete wall form apparatus as-.defined in claim 3 wherein the carriage is adjustable to space the rollers at various distances from each other to form concrete walls of various thicknesses.

8. A concrete wall form apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein the frame includes elongated 'bolts extending through a yvall footing to operatively interconnect the frame sectiofps.

9. A concrete wall form apparatus for progressively forming an: elongated concrete wall along a predetermined path, comprising:

(a) a frame having two elongated sections positioned on opposite sides of the predetermined path with elongated horizontal guide surfaces and elongated stationaryj chains mounted on the frame section parallel with the path; I

(b) plywood sheet forms mounted upright on the frame sectionjs parallel with the predetermined path to define the sides of the concrete wall;

(c) elongated tracks mounted along upper ends of the plywood sheet forms;

(d) a carriage movably mounted on the tracks for movement therealong;

(e) backup rollers rotatably mounted on opposite sides of the carriage bearing against the frame guide surfaces and engaging the outside surfaces of a segment of the plywood sheet forms, said backup rollers having chain sprockets mounted thereon in engagement with the stationary chains; and

(f) motor means operatively connected to the roller for rotating the ;rollers to move the carriage along the tracks as the' 'concrete wall is being formed.

10. A concrete ,wall form apparatus as defined in claim 9 wherein adjustable interconnecting members extend between the frame sections.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,435,488 11/1922 McGregor.

1,562,465 11/ 1925 Nelson 24933 2,025,703 12/1935 Baily et a1 2541X 2,333,041 10/1943 Poulter 2541X 2,501,136 3/1250 Miller 25-41 3,306,835 2/1967 Magnus.

3,497,579 2/1970 Barron 25l 3 1X J. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner R. L. SPICER, J R., Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 249--33 

